TravelBio

After leaving Japan, we had a long trip ahead of us. We first sailed for 9 days to Honolulu, Hawaii, where we stopped for the day only. Before and after Hawaii classes picked up since we had more uninterrupted time on the ship than nearly any other point on the journey (Cape Town to Chennai was 13 days straight). Along our way to Honolulu we passed over the International Date Line and gained 24 hours, repeating a full day. We didn't have any classes, although it hardly made up for the 24 times that we lost an hour of sleep during our trip (as we changed time zones). Hawaii was a relief to be sure, although a short one. We were grateful to get off the ship after sailing for 9 days and knowing that 9 more awaited us before we would reach land again. It was also nice to be back in the US, although an odd feeling considering our trip was not yet over. Like many others, I had never been to Hawaii, so our stopover was another new port to explore. It happened to be Thanks...

Almost two years on, here is a summary of the last Asian port of our Semester at Sea voyage. After leaving Shanghai, we sailed to Kobe, Japan. I kept up a journal of the days in Japan but it is at my house at Ohio State (I am at my parent’s house for a few weeks before the start of my last fall quarter) – instead of waiting to pick it up I’ll give you a brief rundown from what I can remember.  Of all the ports we had been to thus far, Japan was on one hand the most like home, yet definitely different. I say it was similar to home simply because it was the most ‘developed’ and ‘Westernized’ of the countries on our itinerary, especially in the cities. Yet Japan’s culture is unique – for much of its history its language, food and customs were totally separate from the West. Like I said, we docked in Kobe, a city on the southern part of the main island of Japan. Kobe was definitely a modern city, although it seemed on the small side, especially compared to Japanese...

Wow I just looked at my blog for the first time in over a year...it's too bad I never got to updating it or adding in more info from my subsequent trips after Semester at Sea. I just finished summer classes here at Ohio State (now I'm a senior, almost done) and will have a few weeks until fall quarter starts up again. I am hoping to go back through the cobwebs and post a few more details about SAS on the blog. Also I'd like to share a little from my trip to Ecuador and to Europe last summer - or at least what I can remember. I know those of you (the few!) who were reading while I was on the MV Explorer have long since stopped, but thanks for following me. I'll let some of you know that I plan on posting a few updates. Hope everyone is doing well.

Our next stop after Vietnam was Hong Kong, although the ship only docked there for one night. From Hong Kong the MV Explorer sailed north to Shanghai, arriving three days later. There were no classes during the trip from Hong Kong to Shanghai, and SAS students were allowed to travel throughout China meet the ship in Shanghai. Like many students, I signed up for a trip to Beijing. We departed the second day in Hong Kong and arrived in Shanghai the day before the ship left. Day 1 Henry, JR, Rob and I got off the ship at around 11 am and explored the harbor area before their FDP at 1:30. The ship was docked on the mainland and not the actual Hong Kong Island (where the main downtown area is located), but there were still lots of commercial buildings, restaurants and shops near the docks. We first found an ATM and a place for JR to exchange money and then walked through an indoor market. Afterwards Rob and JR stopped for some food while Henry and I looked at the surround...

  Day 1 Because our ship had to wait for high tide to sail upriver to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) we did not dock until around 1 pm. Henry, JR, Rob and I went into the city in search of a tailor because we wanted to get suits made. We stopped at a few places but did not find anything that looked promising, so first we decided to get a late lunch. At the restaurant where we were eating Henry saw the couple that he went skydiving with in Cape Town, South Africa! They are from Scotland and are traveling the world for 8 months, and Henry met them on his skydiving trip. Sailing up the Mekong River toward Ho Chi Minh City It was easy to tell that Vietnam's economy was up and coming A view from the docks Henry with his skydiving buddies After they talked for a few minutes we took a taxi to another part of the city with tailors and a market. We found a small shop that would make them for about $100 each, so I ordered one and Henry and JR got two (Rob ended up goi...

Our fifth port of call was Penang Malaysia. Penang is a small island just off the coast of mainland Malaysia, and the two are connected by a 13 kilometer long bridge. Unlike the previous ports, our ship anchored in the harbor and we had to take the lifeboats to and from the docks (a process known as tendering). Here is a summary of my five day stay: Day 1 I had an FDP with my Asian Art teacher at 9:30, so we got priority for the first tender off the ship; the morning of the first day the tender boats went back and forth quickly to get everyone off, but the rest of the time the boat would leave the ship at the top of every hour and leave the docks at half past – 12:30, 1:30, etc. Our professor took us on a walking tour of the Chinese area of Georgetown, the city on the island of Penang, looking at several temples and traditional homes. Streets of Georgetown / Penang A local Buddhist temple After the tour ended (around 1:00) I took a short walk around the doc...

We spent five days in Chennai (Madras) from October 14th to the 18th. Here’s a summary of my time in India: Day 1 Typical rickshaw taxi Henry and I had an FDP at 1:00 for our Global Environmental Policy class so we decided to try and do a little bit of shopping and exploring in the morning. We took two rickshaw taxis with Rob, JR, and Jack (JR’s roommate) to a store in the center of the city. The rickshaw had three wheels and was about half the length and width of a normal car.  Over the course of my stay in Chennai I learned a lot about Indian driving rules: lane lines don’t mean anything – often two lanes can be made into three or four; bikes, cars, rickshaws, motorcycles, and people are all often within inches of each other (going both the same and opposite directions), and traffic can make a 15 kilometer commute turn into an hour drive. Also, because there is so much congestion, vehicles honk their horns frequently to let others know they are close, and it is ...